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Mr. Darcy, Vampyre |  | Author: Amanda Grange
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
List Price: $14.99
Buy New: $6.00
as of 11/22/2009 22:41 CST details
You Save: $8.99 (60%)
New (33) Used (22) from $4.45
Seller: mediaminder
Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 5824
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 1402236972
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN: 9781402236976
ASIN: 1402236972
Publication Date: August 11, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Sourcebooks Landmark, the leading publisher of Jane Austen-related fiction, is excited to announce a major release: Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by international bestselling author Amanda Grange. Amanda Grange, bestselling author of Mr. Darcy's Diary, gives us something completely newa delightfully thrilling, paranormal Pride and Prejudice sequel, full of danger, darkness and deep romantic love
Amanda Grange's style and wit bring readers back to Jane Austen's timeless storytelling, but always from a very unique and unusual perspective, and now Grange is back with an exciting and completely new take on Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. Mr. Darcy, Vampyre starts where Pride and Prejudice ends and introduces a dark family curse so perfectly that the result is a delightfully thrilling, spine-chilling, breathtaking read. A dark, poignant and visionary continuation of Austen's beloved story, this tale is full of danger, darkness and immortal love. (20090626)
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 42
 Loved it! November 23, 2009
Katherine E. Pelc (Detroit, MI)
I fell right into this book. I loved the story, I loved the way it was written. My only gripe is that it ended.
 Bloodsucked November 11, 2009
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Honestly, I blame Stephenie Meyer for the existence of this book. For some reason, people are equating her sparkly vampire romance novel "Twilight" to the classic, understated novel of manners, "Pride and Prejudice."
So you can probably guess the entire point of "Mr Darcy, Vampyre" -- to portray the first months of the Darcy marriage, in which Mr. Darcy spontaneously morphs from a happy and contented man into... Edward Cullen. Amanda Grange admittedly does her best to stick to Jane Austen's style and manners, but these characters are definitely not hers -- and the meandering, increasingly surreal plot ended up just giving me a headache.
After their double wedding with Jane and Bingley, Lizzie and Darcy's planned wedding tour of the Lake District is cancelled -- Darcy wants to show Lizzie the continent. So Lizzie is whisked off to post-Revolutionary France, and finds herself mingling with Darcy's seductive, glamorous French relatives and friends. And despite a brief attack from Lady Catherine, she and Darcy head off into the deep forests of the Alps to see another old relative of his, Count Polidori (oooo, a homage).
Unsurprisingly, Lizzie suspects that something weird is up with her beloved Darcy, especially since he hasn't turned up in the bedroom at all. And apparently the rioting villagers trying to kill Darcy and all his friends'n'family hasn't clued her in that these people aren't just aristocrats. As their wedding tour of Europe continues into other ancient cities and palaces, Lizzie begins to suspect (about time!) that there's something weird up with her husband. Apparently she hasn't noticed the title of the book.
For the record, I'm not opposed to the idea of giving supernatural twists to old stories -- in fact, it seems like a cool idea if done well (and "Jane Eyre" seems like the perfect chance). The problem is that rather than trying to make "Mr. Darcy, Vampyre" stand on its own, Amanda Grange tries to turn it into a sort of Regency-era "Twilight" -- there's a lot of Darcy valiantly rejecting Lizzie's sexual advances, being moody and Byronic, and dazzling her with his wealth and glamorous vampire buddies.
I'll admit, Grange's writing style is very lovely, full of lush descriptions of Parisian fashions, Alpine forests and ancient Venetian splendor . The problem is that she wraps this lovely prose around a nonexistent plot -- Lizzie and Darcy just meander around Europe, having humorless small talk and chitchatting with random friendly vampires who all think Lizzie is just awesome. Attempts to spice the plot up are downright surreal -- hello, random pitchfork-waving villagers and sea pirates! You arrived just in time!
And these aren't Austen's Lizzie and Darcy -- Lizzie is suddenly overanxious and passive, just going along with everything Darcy does because she Wuvs Him So. She's also dense as a brick -- it's glaringly obvious from the first few chapters that Darcy is a vampire (albeit a daywalking one), yet it takes most of the book for Lizzie to develop even vague suspicions. And Darcy has suddenly become all weird, with lots of bipolar mood swings, fits of jealousy and a tendency to talk only obliquely about his life.
And they also do absurd stuff that no Regency couple would do -- I can excuse Darcy by virtue of his vampirism, but Lizzie? They practically have neck-nipping sex in the middle of a lake while skinny-dipping, and she doesn't show a blush of embarrassment when his AUNT shows up. They even have a squabble with Lady Catherine while stark naked. Yes, I am serious.
"Mr. Darcy, Vampyre" might have been a decent twist on the usual "Pride and Prejudice" sequels if done right, but Amanda Grange wastes all that potential on ridiculous characterizations and a deadweight plot.
The Review October 19, 2009
M. Hawkins
This is a great book however it is not all about vampires. It does do a great job of allowing the reader to understand their live after marriage and after Pride and Prejudice. Overall great book! I enjoyed it and couldnt put it down.
Surprisingly Decent! October 15, 2009
Marie E. Sobieski (San Jose, California)
Surprisingly decent! I admit I was rather skeptical of the content, especially with the rash of "Twilight" fans taking pen to paper as of late, but Grange largely avoids those particular pitfalls. Taking an older view of vampires, Grange manages to blend the events in Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" without having to explain away Darcy's appearance in sunlight, his ability to be married in a church, his partaking of food and beverage, and a few other similar issues. And rest assured, he does not sparkle! Though to be honest, he's not particularly vampiric, either, save a lust for Elizabeth's blood that could be easily mistaken for a lust of a more basic sort.
There's little explanation of why Elizabeth views Darcy's condition as a curse, especially given how mildly it impacts his life. A vampire's only true hardship seems to be eternal life - watching those they love grow old and die while they themselves stay youthful - but give how many other vampires seem around and about, it appears as though only a peer-group change would be needed to rectify the situation. And Elizabeth herself never considers turning, even to dismiss it, which seems like a rather large gap in logic. Like other aspects of the novel, it could have been thought though a little more by the author, since it certainly occurs to the reader. Who wouldn't want to live a life of eternal youth and endless riches?
To which I must also add, Darcy's wealth as portrayed may rival the Queen's. I assume this is meant to be a result of his long life, but given he's lived less than 200 years, it nevertheless seems extreme.
The ending is the weakest plot point of the novel, descending a bit into an Indiana Jones-like adventure in the last thirty or so pages. It also cuts against vampire lore by, pardon the spoiler, allowing Darcy to regain his humanity. More importantly, it seems rather out of place and out of pace with the rest of the work.
With all these negatives, Grange's novel is still superior to the vast majority of the other Pride and Prejudice continuations, vampires or no. The characters keep the bulk of their integrity intact, with only minor slips into emotionalism, and the writing is solid. I would recommend this novel exclusively to those who enjoy Pride and Prejudice adaptations and continuations.
Nail in the Coffin October 12, 2009
lochnessa7 (Half Hollow Hills, NY)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Reeeaaallly bad. Absolutely the thinnest, flimsiest plot imaginable. None of Austen's charm or wit, none of the mystery or romance of a half-way decent vampire story. The plot consists mainly of Darcy hauling Elizabeth around Europe meeting 'mysterious' friends and family, her being slightly uneasy but ultimately clueless. Darcy's one of those tortured, self-loathing vampires, who married Elizabeth but can't bear to inflict his curse upon her. After he saves her in the end from some even worse baddies they find a way to solve everything so unique and compelling that I can't bear to give it away with a spoiler. Elizabeth doesn't figure out what's going on with him until second-to-last chapter, whereupon her reaction (and the reader's)isn't so much acceptance as stupor, since at this point nothing makes any sense at all.
In short, less an Austen-vampire mash up, with everyone so out of character, more like a P&P Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 42
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